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ADDRESS, 



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CoUefliate ^nuiiiMiinn in ^vMxtxni, JUs^* 



BY HEMAN HUMPHREY, D. D. 



ON OCCASION OF HIS , 



INAUaURATION TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THAT INSTITUTION, 



Oct. 16, 1823. 



BOSTON: 

FBINTED BX CfiOCKEB AND BB£WST£B, 

No. 50, Comhill. 
1823. 



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ADDRESS. 



It is a deeply afflictive and mysterious dispensation of 
Providence, which has so lately bereaved this infant 
seminary of its head, and by which I am now brought 
with inexperienced and trembling steps to its thresh- 
hold. If prayer offered to God without ceasing for 
Dr. Moore, on his sick bed, could have prolonged his 
invaluable life; if professional assiduity could have 
warded off the fatal stroke; or if agonized affection 
could have shielded him in her embrace, he had not 
died and left this favourite child of his adoption to agi 
early and perilous orphanage. Committed to his pa- 
ternal guardianship in its infancy, there was but one 
earthly object dearer to his heart. While, therefore, 
he daily commended it to the benediction of Heaven, 
and rejoiced in the rapid developement of its powers, 
he did all that experience, affection and assiduity could 
do, to cherish its growth, and to lay deep the founda- 
tions of its future usefulness. So completely had he 



identified himself with its interests, that no hostile 
weapon could reach it without first piercing his heart. 
He felt all its perplexities and adversities as if they 
had been his own: and as some compensation for 
these, he enjoyed, in a high degree, its brightening 
prospects; its youthful and buoyant anticipations. 

With what ability Dr. Moore presided over this 
Institution; how cheerfully he devoted to it all his 
time and talents; with how many difficulties he had to 
struggle, when every thing was to be done and the 
means of doing were so scanty and precarious; with 
what filial love and veneration he was regarded by his 
pupils; how liberal and disinterested were all his views 
and measures; how successful were his appeals to an 
enlightened Christian public in behalf of the seminary; 
and how his dying eye kindled with joy and thankful« 
ness, when he was told that an important measure for 
increasing the funds had succeeded — all these things 
are best known to those, who were most intimately 
associated with him in his plans and labours, and they 
will be long and gratefully remembered. 

The question has often occurred to a thousand anx- 
ious minds, Hovy could such a man, in such a station, and 
at such a time be spared? And who can describe that 
deep and electrical throb of anguish, which smote the 
heart of this institution, when he breathed his last, 
and every student felt that he had lost a father? O 
what a shuddering was there within these walls, when 
that funeral pall, which hung portentous for a few 
days in mid heaven, w^as let down by hands unseen 
upon yonder dwelling! That pall is not yet removed. 
It conceals at once from mortal view, the venerated 



form of our departed friend, and the awful depths of 
infinite wisdom in taking him away. And who, since 
the dyinj^ agonies are oyer, would call the sainted 
spirit back, to revive the troubled dream of life in a 
sleep that is now so peaceful? "I heard a voice from 
heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the 
spirit, that they may restjrom their labours, and their 
works do follow them." 

If Dr. Moore himself wished to live yet longer, it 
was, we confidently believe, more for the sake of 
others, than for his own. And while he did live, it 
was his ardent devotion to the interests of the church 
and of sound learning, which prompted him to efforts 
beyond his strength, if not immediately prejudicial to 
his life. It certainly would have gratified his benevo- 
lent heart, to have been permitted to see the Institu- 
tion over which he presided, relieved from all its em- 
barrassments, and taking rank in form, as well as in 
fact, with the older Colleges of New England. And 
if faith is any thing, it can scarcely be said, that he 
'died without the sight.' With what confidence he 
spoke of the future prosperity and usefulness of the 
seminary, particularly towards the close of his life, 
many who hear me can testify. 

If we estimate the length of life, by what a man 
actually accomplishes for the best good of his kind, 
we shall see, that Dr. Moore, though taken away in 
the high meridian of his usefulness, was "old and full 
of days." To say nothing here, of the ability with 
which he filled other important stations, and of the 
good which he did in them all, the services rendered 



6 

by him to this Institution, within less than the short 
space of two years, were sufficient to entitle him to 
the gratitude of thousands now living, and of far 
greater numbers who are yet to be born. Broad and 
deep are the foundations which he assisted in laying 
upon this consecrated hill. Strong was his own arm 
— freely was it offered for the great work, and power- 
ful was the impulse which his presence and ever cheer- 
ing voice gave to the wakening energies of benevo- 
lence around him. But highly as his various plans 
and counsels and labours are now appreciated, future 
generations, in walking over this ground, with the 
early history of the College before them, will, there 
is little reason to doubt, place him still higher among 
its distinguished benefactors. It will then more fully 
appear, what and how much he did, to give shape and 
character to an Institution, which we believe is des- 
tined to live and bless the church, in all coming ages. 

The time will not permit me to dwell longer upon 
a theme, which is at once so 'pleasant and mournful to 
the soul;' — nor could I, on the other hand, have said 
less, without doing injustice alike to the occasion and 
to my own feelings, called, as I am this day, to occupy 
the chair which has been left vacant, by the mournful, 
though serene departure of my highly venerated 
friend. 

It is possible, too, that at this interesting moment, 
I might be indulged in speaking of the struggles and 
misgivings and breaking of ties which it has cost me, 
to tear myself away from the quiet and much loved 
scenes of pastoral labours, and to exchange them all, 
for an untried and highly responsible sphere of liter- 



ary action. But why should I look back? Why so 
fondly covet the mysterious pleasure of feeling in ev- 
ery rending heart-string, all those struggles again? 
Rather let me 'forget the things which are behind, 
and reach forth unto those things which are before' — 
looking up daily to heaven for strength and wisdom 
and grace — bespeaking also the prayers, relying on 
the efficient aid, and throwing myself upon the Chris- 
tian candour of the friends and patrons of this rising 
seminary. 

Convened as we are this day, in the portals of sci- 
ence and literature, and v/ith ail their arduous heights 
and profound depths and Elysian fields before us, edu- 
catioii offers itself as the inspiring theme of our present 
meditations. This, in a free, enlightened and Chris- 
tian state, is confessedly a subject of the highest mo- 
ment. How can the diamond reveal its lustre from 
beneath incumbent rocks and earthy strata? How 
can the marble speak, or stand forth in all the divine 
symmetry of the human form, till it is taken from the 
quarry and fashioned by the hand of the artist? And 
how can man be intelligent, happy, or useful, without 
the culture and discipline of education? It is this that 
smooths and polishes the roughnesses of his nature. 
It is this, that unlocks the prison house of his mind 
and releases the captive. It is the transforming 
hand of education, which is now in so many heathen 
lands moulding savageness and igHorance, pagan fanat- 
icism and brutal stupidity, revenge and treachery and 
lust; — and in short, all the warring elements of our 
lapsed nature, into the various forms of exterior de- 
cency, of mental brilliancy and of Christian loveliness. 



It is education that pours light into the understanding, 
lays up its golden treasures in the memory, softens the 
asperities of the temper, checks the waywardness of 
passion and appetite and trains to habits of industry, 
temperance and benevolence. It is this which quali- 
fies men for the pulpit, the senate, the bar, the prac- 
tice of medicine and the bench of justice. It is to ed- 
ucation, to its domestic agents, its schools and colleges, 
its universities and literary societies, that the world is 
indebted for the thousand comforts and elegancies of 
civilized life, for almost every useful art, discovery 
and invention. 

Education, moreover, is power — physical, intellect- 
ual and moral power. To be convinced of this, we 
need only compare our own great republic — with the 
myriads of pagan or savage men, in a ny part of 
the world. How astonishing the difference, in every 
important respect! For what can the ignorant hordes 
of central Africa or Asia do, either in arts or in arms? 
— What to make themselves happy at home, or re- 
spected abroad? And what, on the other hand, cannot 
civilized America accomplish? 

In a word, education, regarding man as a rational, 
accountable and immortal being, elevates, expands and 
enriches his mind; cultivates the best affections of his 
heart; pours a thousand sweet and gladdening streams 
around the dwellings of the poor as well as the man- 
sions of the rich, and while it greatly multiplies and 
enhances the enjoyments of time, helps to train up the 
soul for the bliss of eternity. 

How extremely important, then, is every inquiry 
which relates to the philosophy of the human mind — 



to the early discipline and cultivation of its noble pow- 
ers — to the comparative merits and defects of classical 
books and prevailing systems of instruction — to the 
advantages accruing from mathematical and other ab- 
struse studies — to the means of educating the children 
of the poor in our public seminaries — to the present 
state of science and literature in our country; and to 
the animating prospects which are opening before us. 
All these topics and many more, nearly related, pre- 
sent themselves to the enlightened and philanthropic 
mind, as it looks abroad from some commanding emi- 
nence, or ranges at leisure over the wide and busy 
fields of human improvement. It must be obvious, 
however, upon a moment's reflection, that it would 
take many a long day to traverse a space so ample; to 
drink of every Castalian fountain in the way; to take 
the altitudes of Parnassus; to measure the steeps of 
science; and to see what is going forward in a thou- 
sand splendid literary halls and wonder working labora- 
tories. How little then, can be done within the brief 
hour, which is alloted to the present exercises. Upon 
many very interesting objects and enclosures we can 
scarcely bestow a passing glance, and can linger for a 
few moments only, where most we might love to 
dwell, or at least to sit down at our. leisure and enjoy 
the goodly prospect. 

In treating of education, we may advantageously 
divide the subject, into the three great branches, of 
physical, intellectual and moral improvement. Under 
these heads, we shall include all that is requisite to 
form a sound and healthy body, a vigorous and well 
stored mind, and a good heart. If the first of these, 



10 

or what I choose to call the physical part of edaca- 
tion, has not been wholly overlooked, (as it certainly 
has not,) in the most popular systems, still, it may well 
be questioned, whether it has yet received that degree 
of attention, which its immense importance demands. 

Such, in our present condition, is the mysterious con- 
nexion between body and mind, that the one cannot 
act, except on a very limited scale, without the assist- 
ance of the other. The immortal agent must have an 
"earthly house" to dwell in; and it is essential to vig- 
orous and healthful mental operations, that this house 
should be well built, and that it should be kept in good 
repair. Now, it is the province of physical education, 
to erect the building, and in carrying it up, to have 
special reference to its firmness and durability; so that 
the unseen tenant, who is sent down to occupy it, 
may enjoy every convenience, and be enabled to work 
to the very best advantage. 

That is undoubtedly the wisest and best regimen, 
which takes the infant from the cradle, and conducts 
him along through childhood and youth, up to high 
maturity, in such a manner, as to give strength to his 
arm, swiftness to his feet, solidity and amplitude to his 
muscles, symmetry to his frame and expansion to all 
his vital energies. It is obvious, that this branch of 
education, comprehends not only food and clothing; 
but air, exercise, lodging, early rising, and whatever 
else is requisite to the full developement of the phys- 
ical constitution. 

If, then, you would see the son of your prayers and 
hopes, blooming with health, and rejoicing daily in the 
full and sparkling tide of youthful buoyancy; if you 



11 

wish him to be strong and athletic and careless of fa- 
tigue; if you would fit him for hard labour and safe 
exposure to winter and summer; or if you would 
prepare him to sit down twelve hours in a day with 
Euclid, Enfield and Newton, and still preserve his 
health, you must lay the foundation accordingly. You 
must begin with him early, must teach him self-denial, 
and gradually subject him to such hardships, as will 
help to consolidate his frame and give increasing en- 
ergy to all his physical powers. His diet must be 
simple, his apparel must not be too warm, nor his bed 
too soft. As good soil is commonly so much cheaper 
and better for children than medicine, beware of too 
much restriction in the management of your darling i,, 
boy. Let him, in choosing his play, follow the su-g- 
gestions of nature. 

Be not discomposed at the sight of his sand hills in 
the road, his snow forts in February, and his mud- 
dams in April; — nor when you chance to look out in 
the midst of an August shower, and see him wading 
and sailing and sporting along with the water-fowl. 
If you would make him hardy and fearless, let him 
go abroad as often as he pleases, in his early boyhood, 
and amuse himself by the hour together, in smoothing 
and twirling the hoary locks of winter. Instead of 
keeping him shut up all day with a stove, and gradu- 
ating his sleeping room by Fahrenheit, let him face 
the keen edge of the north wind, when the mercury is 
below cypher, and instead of minding a little shiver- 
ing and complaining when he returns, cheer up his 
spirits and send him out again. In this way, you will 
teach him that he was not born to live in the nursery, 



12 

nor to brood over the kitchen fire; but to range 
abroad as free as the snow and the air, and to gain 
warmth from exercise. I love and admire the youth, 
•who turns not back from the howling wintry blast, 
nor withers under the blaze of summer: — who never 
magnifies 'mole-hills into mountains,' but whose daring 
eye, exulting, scales the eagle's airy crag, and who is 
ready to undertake any thing that is prudent and law- 
ful, withm the range of possibilitj'. 

Who would think of planting the mountain oak in 
a green-house, or of rearing the cedar of Lebanon in 
a lady's flower pot? Who does not know that in or- 
der to attain their mighty strength and majestic forms, 
they must freely enjoy the rain and the sunshine, and 
must feel the rocking of the tempest? Who would 
thipk of raising up a band of Indian warriors, upon 
cakes and jellies and beds of down, and amid all the 
luxuries and ease of wealth and carefulness? The 
attempt would be highly preposterous, not to say 
utterly ridiculous. Very different is the course 
which nature points out. It is the plain and scanty 
fare of these sons of the forest, their hard and cold 
lodging, their long marches and fastings, and their con- 
stant exposure to all the hardships of the wilderness, 
•which give them such Herculean limbs and stature; 
such prodigious might in the deadly fray, and such 
swiftness of foot in pursuing the vanquished. 

I am far, however, from saying, that such training, 
would ensure to every child the arm of Achilles, or 
the courage of Logan, or the constitution and daring 
of Martin Luther. Some would doubtless sink under 
a vigorous early discipline; but not near so many, as is 



13 

generally supposed. The truth is, there is a mistaken 
tenderness which daily interferes with the health giv- 
ing economy of heaven. Too many parents, instead 
of building upon the foundation which God has laid, 
first subvert that foundation by misplaced indulgencies. 
and then vainly attempt to build among the ruins. 
They cross and perplex nature so much, in her efforts 
to make their children strong and healthy, that she at 
length refuses to do any thing, and the doating parents 
are left to patch up the shattered and puny constitu- 
tion as well as they can, with tonics and essences. In 
this way, not a few young men of good talents, are 
rendered physically incapable of pursuing their stud- 
ies to any advantage. They can never bear the 
fatigue of close and long continued application. The 
mind would gladly work, but the earthly tabernacle is 
so extremely frail, that every vigorous effort shakes it 
to the foundation. It is like setting up the machinery 
of a furnace, in a mere she.(3j without studs or braces— 
or like attempting to raise the steam for a large ship, 
in a tin boiler. Whatever talents a youth may possess, 
he can accomplish but little in the way of study, with- 
out a good constitution to sustain his mental efforts; 
and such a constitution is not a blessing to be enjoyed 
of course. Like almost every other gift of heaven, it 
is to be obtained by human providence, and in the use 
of means adapted to the end. How many who begin 
well, ultimately fail of eminence and usefulness, 
through excessive tenderness, and for want of skill and 
care in their early physical education, it is impossible 
to say; but that many a young man is doomed to lin- 
gering imbecility, or to a premature grave by this kind 



14 

of mismanagement; and that the subject on which i 
have hazarded the foregoing remarks, is intimately 
connected with tjie vital interests of the church and 
the state, will not, I think, be questioned. 

One thing more, I deem it important to say, before 
I dismiss the present topic. The finest constitution, the 
growth of many years, may be ruined in a few months. 
However good the health of a student may be when 
he enters college, it requires much care and pains to 
preserve it; and there is a very common mistake as to 
the real cause why so many fail. Hard study has all 
the credit of undermining many a constitution, which 
would have sustained twice as much application 
and without injury too, by early rising and walking, 
and by keeping up a daily acquaintance with the saw 
and the axe. Worthless in themselves, then, as are 
the elements which compose this mortal frame, so es- 
sential are its healthful energies to the 'operations of 
mind, that so long as the body and soul remain united, 
too much care can hardly be bestowed upon the 
former for the sake of the latter. 

The second great branch of education is intellectual; 
and this, it must be confessed is vastly more important 
and difficult than the Jirst. It is the intelligent and 
immortal mind, which pre-eminently distinguishes man 
from the countless forms of animated nature around 
him. It is this, which not only gives him dominion 
over them all; but raises him to an alliance with 
angels; and through grace, to converse with God him- 
self. Mysterious emanation of the Divinity! Who 
ran measure its capacity, or set bounds to its progres- 
Rron in knowledge? 



15 

But this intelligent and immortal principle, which 
We call mind, is not created in full strength and matu- 
rity. As the body passes slowly through infancy and 
childhood, so does the mind. Feeble at first, it 'grows 
with the growth and strengthens with the strength' of 
the corporeal system. Destitute alike of knowledge 
at their birth, the children of one family, or genera- 
tion, have, in this respect, no advantage over those of 
another. All, the high as well as the low, the rich as 
well as the poor, have every thing to learn. No one 
was ever born a Newton, or an Edwards. It is patient, 
vigorous and long continued application that makes the 
great mind. All must begin with the simplest ele- 
ments of knowledge, and advance from step to step in 
noarly the same manner. Thus native talent in a child, 
may be compared to the small capital with which a 
young merchant begins in trade. It is not his fortune, 
but only the means of making it. Or it may be lik- 
cHed to a quarry of fine marble, or to a mine of the 
precious metals. The former, never starts up spon- 
taneously into Cyprian Venuses— nor does the latter, 
of its own accord, assume the shape and value of a 
shining currency. Much time and labour and skill are 
requisite, to fashion the graceful statue, and to refine 
and stamp the yellow treasure. 

In every system of education, two things should be 
kept steadily in view: — -first, that the mind itself is to 
he formed; is to be gradually expanded and strength- 
ened into vigorous manhood, by the proper exercise of 
its faculties; and secondly, that it is to be enriched and 
embellished with various knowledge. In practice, 
however, these two things cannot be separated. For 



16 

at the same time, that the plastic hand of education 
is strengthening and enlarging the mind, by subjecting 
it to severe and sometimes painful discipline, this very 
exercise, is continually enriching it with new and im- 
portant ideas. Thus, to illustrate the point by a plain 
similitude, we do not, when we begin with the child, 
find the intellectual temple already built and waiting 
only to be furnished; but we have got to lay the foun- 
dation, and carry up the walls, and fashion the porti- 
cos and arches, while we are carving the ornaments, 
and bringing in all that is requisite to finish the edifice 
and furnish the apartments. That, then, must obvi- 
ously be the best system of mental education, which 
does most to develope and strengthen the intellectual 
powers, and which pours into the mind the richest 
streams of science and literature. The object of 
teaching should never be, to excuse the student 
from thinking and reasoning; but to learn him how 
to think and to reason. You can never make your 
son, or your pupil a scholar, by drawing his diagrams, 
measuring his angles, finding out his equations and trans- 
lating his Majora. No. He must do all these things 
for himself. It is his own application that is to give 
him distinction. It is climbing the hill of science by 
dint of efibrt and perseverance and not being carried 
lip on other men's shoulders. 

Let every youth, therefore, early settle it in his 
mind, that if he would ever be any thing, he has got 
to make himself; or in other words, to rise by personal 
application. Let him always try his own strength, and 
try it effectually, before he is allowed to call upon 
Hercules. Put him first upon his own invention; send 



17 

him back again and again to the resources of his own 
mind, and make him feel, that there is nothing too 
hard for industry and perseverance to accomplish. 
In his early and timid flights, let him know that 
stronger pinions are near and ready to sustain him, but 
only in case of absolute necessity. When in the rug- 
ged paths of science, difficulties which he cannot sur- 
mount impede his progress, let him be helped over 
them; but never, let him think of being led, when he 
has power to walk without help nor of carrying his 
ore to another's furnace, when he can melt it down in 
his own. To excuse our young men from painful 'mental 
labour, in a course of liberal education, would be about 
as wise, as to invent easier cradle springs for the coh- 
veyance of our children to school, or softer cushions 
for them to sit on at home, in order to promote their 
growth and give them vigorous constitutions. By 
adopting such methods, in the room of those distin- 
guished men, to whom we have been accustomed to 
look for sound literary and theological instruction; for 
wise laws and the able administration of justice, our 
pulpits and courts and professorships and halls of legis- 
lation, would soon be filled, or rather disgraced, by a 
succession of weak and rickety pretenders. 

In this view of the subject, it becomes a very nice 
not to say difficult question, how far it is expedient to 
simplify elementary books in our primary schools; but 
more especially, in the advanced stages of a liberal 
education. I am aware, that much may be said in 
favour of the simplest and easiest lessons for children; 
and I freely admit, that several elementary writers of 
the present day, are entitled to much credit for what 
.3 



18 

they have done in this humble, though highly impor- 
tant sphere. I am convinced, however, that even 
here the simpHfying process has been carried too far. 
The learner, in many cases, receives too much assist- 
ance from his author. Little or nothing is left him to 
fmd out by his own study and ingenuity. His feelings 
are interested and his memory is taxed;, but his judg- 
ment is not called into exercise; his invention is not 
put to the test, and of course, his mind does not grow. 
Moreover; too many, who would be thought stu- 
dents of a distinguished rank, by having their abridg- 
ments and elements and conversations and other pa- 
tented stereotype continually before them, early im- 
bibe the persuasion, that almost any science may be 
mastered in a few weeks; and, of course, that the 
time which used to be spent upon languages, the ma- 
tbematics and other branches of a public education, 
was little better than thrown away. Even in our 
Colleges, and partly I am apt to think from the same 
cause, there is much complaint of needless prolixity 
and obscurity, in some of the larger classical books. 
It seems to be taken for granted, that every thing 
should be made as plain and easy for the learner as 
possible. Hence, to be held in check during a long 
and painful hour or more, by a single proposition in 
Euclid, is considered an intolerable hardship by those, 
who dislike nothing so much as close and slowly pro- 
ductive thinking. It seems never to have occurred 
to their minds, that this is the very kind of exercise, 
which is indispensable, to give scope and energy to the 
intellectual powers. 



19 

In itself considered, it would be very agreeable, B@ 
doubt, to master conic sections, quadratic equations, 
spherics and fluxions, all in a month. But if this 
could be done, the student would lose incomparably 
more, than he could possibly gain by the saving of 
time and labour. He would lose nearly all the ad- 
vantage which he now derives, from a long course of 
severe mental discipline. Indeed, could all the fields 
of science and literature be explored in a few weeks, 
or months; could some new method be invented to 
supersede the necessity of hard study altogether, the 
consequences would be truly deplorable. That hour 
would mark the boundaries of human improvement. 
From that moment, the march of mind would be ret- 
rograde. Within one generation, there would be no 
giants left in the earth; for how could the race be 
perpetuated, without the aliment which has in time 
past added so many cubits to their stature? Once re- 
lease man from the necessity of bringing his powers 
into vigorous action, and nothing could prevent him 
from sinking into sloth and imbecility. 

Let me here, in connexion with the foregoing re- 
marks, offer a few thoughts upon the method of 
teaching by lectures; a mode which is so highly and 
deservedly popular in the most flourishing institutions 
of our own country, as well as in all the foreign Univer- 
sities. Without lecturers, in various branches of science, 
no College could maintain a respectable standing for 
a single year; and it is greatly to be wished, that more 
professorships might be founded in most of our public 
seminaries. But even here, there are certain limits, 
beyond which it would not be wise, nor safe to go. 



20 

It is easy to see, that so much of a four years resi- 
dence in College, might be taken up in hearing lectures, 
as to leave but little time for hard study. Nor is this 
all. When a young man knows, that he is surrounded 
by distinguished professors, who are all the while 
thinking and writing for his benefit, he will be apt to 
excuse himself from close application, and to rest 
contented with what he can take down, or remember 
in the Lecture-room. This arises from that kind of 
vis inertia^ which must be reckoned among the laws of 
our fallen nature. We are, for the most part, so ex- 
tremelv averse to mental effort, that if we can find 
substitutes to trim the midnight lamp, we shall em- 
ploy them, even In spite of conscience and our better 
judgment. Who is there that would not prefer tak- 
ing as many eagles as he wants from the hands of the 
coiner, to bringing up the ore from the dark caverns 
of Potosi, and carrying it through the mint by the 
sweat of his own brow? Let every student, then, be 
on his guard against those temptations to indolence, 
which lurk beneath some of his highest privileges. 
Let him be thankful for the assistance of able pro-, 
fessors, but let him depend more upon his own indus- 
try than upon them. It were better for a young man 
never to hear a lecture in College, than to estimate his 
attainments by the amount of instruction which he 
receives, rather than by his own diligence and success 
in study. 

I cannot dismiss the present topic, without advert- 
ing to the new modes of itinerant lecturing, which are 
becoming extremely fashionable in various parts of 
our country. To condemn them in the gross, would 



21 

be doing injustice to some individuals of distinguished 
merit; for it cannot be denied, that they have reduced 
much valuable information, to a cheap and portable 
form, and have in this way contributed to diffuse a 
taste for science and literature among all classes of 
people. These are honourable exceptions; but what 
shall we say of those pedantic smatterers in every 
thing, who are coming up upon the breadth of the 
land; whose advertisements stare us in the face from 
a thousand hand-bills and news-papers; who are ready 
to promise, and if you please, to bind themselves for 
a very trifling consideration, not only to point out a 
much shorter road, than even a royal one, to the tem- 
ple of fame, but to conduct their marvelling followers 
to the very pinnacle, before the disciples of Bacon, 
Newton and Reid can fairly begin to rise, by the an- 
cient steep and rugged path. What need, according 
-to these wonderworking teachers, of six, or ten years 
study, when they can lay open all the arena of sci- 
ence in half as many weeks or evenings! Nay so far 
is this literary necromancy sometimes carried, that 
even a single lecture is expected to do more for the 
awe stricken tyro, than he could gain by months of 
the closest application in the old way. While I ap- 
peal to your own observation, for the correctness of 
this- statement, I am far from wishing to hold up any 
meritorious individual, to public reprobation, or con- 
tempt. Let every one receive the just reward of his 
ingeriuity and usefulness. Equally foreign is it from 
my present design, to represent all attempts at im- 
provement, in the methods of teaching, as visionary 
and hopeless. I believe, on the contrary, that great 



22 

improvements are yet to be made, and that even now, 
writing, geography and some other branches, are much 
more advantageously taught than they were twenty 
years ago. But I have no hesitation in pronouncing, 
a great part of what is pompously styled lecturing, 
upon natural philosophy, chemistry, astronomy, history, 
mnemonics and the like, the most arrant quackery, 
that ever disgraced the records of learning in New 
England. It is the mere froth and sediment — or, 
shall I not rather say, it is the sulphurated hydrogen 
and carbonic acid of science and literature. So far is, 
it from raising the general standard of education, that 
its direct tendency is to discourage application, to fos- 
ter pedantry, and to beget a general contempt for that 
long and tedious process, by which men have hitherto 
risen to eminence in general knowledge, and in all the 
learned professions. 

I do not however mention these time and book and 
labour saving expedients, as if there was any very se- 
rious cause of ala rm from this quarter. These Pro- 
tean forms of literary quackery, cannot hold the 
ascendency long in any enlightened community. And 
in spite of their present claims to public favour, it 
cannot be doubted, that intellectual education, in most 
of its branches, is steadily on the advance. Great 
light, has within the last thirty years, been thrown 
upon the science of mind, and the present ardour of 
philosophical speculation, promises still more brilliant 
results. There is, upon the whole, a steady and 
mighty advance in the great empire of cultivated in- 
tellect, which we trust nothing will seriously impede, 
and to which no definite limits can be assigned. 



23 

In connexion with this part of our subject, or 
rather in continuation of it, I cannot help calling your 
attention for a moment, to those rapid and splendid 
conquests of general science, which shed such a glory 
upon the age in which we live. What scholastic en- 
trenchment is there which she has not carried — what 
moss-grown battlement on which she has not planted 
her standard? What height is there which she has 
not surveyed — what depth has she not explored? 
What desert of sand, or snow, has she not traversed 
— what arctic sea or streight has she not navigated — ■ 
what ice of four thousand winters has she not seen — 
what mountain or heavenly parallax has she not meas- 
ured—what mineral has escaped her search — what 
stubborn resistances in the great field of experiment, 
has she not overcome — what substance has she not 
found means to break, or fuse, or solve, or convert into 
gas? 

It is indeed wonderful to think, how the boundaries 
of human knowledge are by the aid, and under the 
directing eye of human intellect, extending in everv 
direction. Every camp that is lighted for the pur- 
poses of discovery in one department, sheds a portion 
of its radiance upon some other, or perhaps upon ma- 
ny others at the same time: and thus, by the inter- 
mingling and reflection of rays from so many points, 
the progress of discovery is greatly and increasingly 
facilitated. Objects which fifty years ago were 
scarcely visible in the dim horizon, are now left by its 
retrocession far within the vast circumference. The 
ever busy hand of experiment is daily laying open 
new wonders and making new discoveries in air, earth 



24 

ejid water. Some of the great agents of nature, 
which had been at work in secret from the foundation 
of the world, have recently been detected in their 
mysterious operations, and made subservient to the 
health and convenience of man. Science has scaled 
those awful barriers, which less than a century ago, 
it would have been thought the height of madness 
and impiety to attempt; and she is now successfully 
exploring far wider regions beyond, than were ever 
included in her ancient dominions. Thus while the 
astronomer is polishing his glasses, finding out the lon- 
gitude, watching the return of the comets, and looking 
for new constellations in the blue depths of ether, the 
mechanical philosopher is lengthening his levers, per- 
fecting his screws and pullies, and combining and con- 
centrating all the prodigious energies of fire and wa- 
ter. And last, but not least, the chemist is rejoicing 
in the midst of his newly discovered attractions, affin- 
ities and antipathies: and if in subjecting every known 
substance to his acids, his blow-pipe and his defla- 
grator, he has not yet converted the baser metals into 
gold, he seems to be in a fair way, at least, of trans- 
muting charcoal into diamonds.* 

The train of our meditations, falls in so naturally 
here, with the following bright and philosophical an- 
ticipations of a distinguished writer, that I shall offer 
no apology for laying them before you in his own 
' words. Speaking of the progressive improvement of 
the human race, he mentions by way of example, the 
history of mathematical science, in which the advan- 

* I here allude to some vei-y interesl^ng expeiiments, by Professor Silliman of Yale College, 
at" which he has givcu a particular account, in the American Journal of Science and Arts: Vol. 
V. and VI. 



25 

c€s of discovery may be measured with greater pre» 
cision than in any other. 

"Those elementary truths of geometry and of as* 
tronomy," he remarks, "which, in India and Egypt, 
formed an occult science, upon which an ambitious 
priesthood founded its influence, were become, in the 
times of Archimedes and Hipparchus, the subjects 
of common education in the public schools of Greece. 
In the last century, a few years of study were suffi- 
cient for comprehending all that Archimedes and Hip- 
parchus knew; and, at present, two years employed 
under an able teacher, carry the student beyond those 
conclusions, which limited the inquiries of Leibnitz 
and of Newton. Let any person reflect on these facts; 
let him follow the immense chain which connects the 
inquiries of Euler with those of a priest of Memphis; 
let him observe, at each epoch, how genius outstrips 
the present age, and how it is overtaken by medioc- 
rity in the next; he will perceive, that nature has fur- 
nished us with the means of abridging and facilitating 
our intellectual labour, and that there is no reason for 
apprehending that such simplifications can ever have 
an end. He will perceive, that at the moment when 
a multitude of particular solutions, and of insulated 
facts, begin to distract the attention, and to overcharge 
the memory, the former gradually lose themselves in 
one general method, and the latter unite in one gen- 
eral law; and that these generalizations, continually 
succeeding one to another, like the successive multipli- 
cations of a number by itself, have no other limit, 
than that infinity which the human faculties are una- 
ble to comprehend." 

How cheering, how ennobling is this intellectual 
march of our species! Who but must aspire to a place 
4 



26 

in the ranks, if not to the honour of bearing a stand- 
ard? Who is there, that will not contribute by every 
proper oieans in his power, to facilitate so illustrious 
a march; to elevate, expand and strengthen the im- 
mortal mind, as it still presses on in the path of dis- 
covery, and looking upward, pants for a wider range, 
a clearer vision, and worthier attainments m a brighter 
v^orld? 

The third and last great branch of education is 
moral. I use the word moral here, in the largest 
sense, as comprehending all the instruction, restraints 
and discipline which are requisite, for the government 
of the passions, the moulding of the affections, the 
formation of an enlightened conscience and the ren- 
ovation of the heart. I do not merely say that this 
branch is indispensable — for in a sense it is every thing. 
What would a finely cultivated mind, united to the 
best physical constitution be, without moral principle? 
What but mere brute force, impelled by the combin- 
ed and terrible energies of a perverted understanding 
and a depraved heart? How much worse than phys- 
ical imbecility, is strength employed in doing evil? 
How much more to be dreaded than the most pro- 
found ignorance, is a high state of mental cultivation, 
when once men have broken away from the control 
of conscience and the Bible. The reign of terror and 
atheism, under whose bloody seal the den^on of an- 
archy once presided over a great and polished metrop- 
olis, affords so good an illustration here, that I hope I 
shall be indulged in the hackneyed allusion. What 
availed all the erudition of the National Institute, and 
all the learning of the Encyclopediasts, in the hands 
of men, who could bow the knee to the meretricious 
goddess of jeason, and write over the tomb, that death 



2? 

is an eternal sleep? It was not the blind and unlet- 
tered frenzy of the multitude, but the cool and calcu- 
lating genius of iniidel philosophy, which put the 
wheels of revolution in motion in France; and it was 
the friction, occasioned by that tremendous impulse, 
which set the whole machinery of the government on 
fire, and burnt down the palace, the altar and the 
throne together. Now, take away ail the restraints, 
and sanctions of reiigionyand something like this might 
be expected to happen in any state, and in spite of 
the highest intellectual attainments. Without the 
fear of God nothing can be secure for one moment. 
Without the control of moral and religious principle, 
education is a drawn and polished sword, in the hands 
of a gigantic maniac. In his madness he may fall 
upon its point, or bathe it in the blood of the innocent. 
Great and highly cultivated talents, allied to skepti- 
cism, or infidelity, are the right arm that "scatters 
firebrands, arrows and death." After all the dreams 
of human perfectibility, and all the hosannas which 
have been profanely lavished upon reason, philosophy 
and literature, who, but for the guardianship of relig- 
ion, could protect his beloved daughters, or be safe 
in his own house for one night? What would civil 
government be in the profound sleep of conscience, 
and in the absence of right moral habits and feelings — 
what, but an iron despotism on the one hand, or in- 
toxicated anarchy on the other? 

Let any system of education, which leaves out God 
and the scriptures, prevail for a short time only, in 
your families, schools and Colleges, and what would 
be the consequences? How long would you have any 
domestic circles to love, or to live in? How long 
would children reverence their parents, or listen to the 



28 

voice of their teachers? The truth is, moral habits 
and religious sanctions, cannot be dispensed with. 
The world would be one vast and frightful theatre of 
misery and crime without them. What anxious and 
unremitting care, then, should be bestowed upon the 
religious education of children. How assiduously 
should the fond parent labour to imbue the mind of 
the little prattler upon his knee, with the knowledge 
and fear of God. It is needless to say, that if you do 
not sow the good seed, and sow it early, the enemy 
will be sure to preoccupy the ground: and if you sleep 
after it is sown, he will not fail of scattering tares 
among the wheat. If, then, your "heart's desire and 
prayer to God" is, that your son may be virtuous, 
useful and pious, "train him up in the way he should 
go" — teach him from the cradle to obey you in all 
things; to govern his own passions, and to exercise all 
the kind and generous feelings of his heart. Let that 
system of religious education which is begun in the 
family, be carried into the primary school, from thence 
into the academy and up to the public seminary. 
Such a course of moral instruction, is the more im- 
portant in this country, on account of the free and 
republican character of all our institutions. Our civil 
government is happily a government of moral influ- 
ence. It derives its supremacy not so much from the 
pains and penalties of the statute book, as from the 
virtue and intelligence of the people. Now the per- 
manent safety of such a community, demands a high 
tone of moral and religious principle in the great mass 
of the governed; and it must be obvious, I think, that 
the freer any state is, the more virtue is necessary to 
secure private rights, and to preserve the public tran- 
quillity. A government of opinion, founded on the 



29 

morality of the Gospel, exerts a silent and invisible 
influence, which like the great law of attraction keeps 
every thing in its place, without seeming to exert any 
influence at all. 

Now, as the literary institutions of every country, 
must receive their shape and character from the gen- 
ius of the government, the management of a College 
in our own free and happy land, must be the unseen 
efiiciency of moral influence, much more than the 
frowning shall, or shall not of the written law. But 
how can this influence be established and maintained 
over the natural restlessness and ardency of youth? 
Clearly in no other way but that which I have just 
pointed out. They must be brought under the sway 
of an enlightened conscience and of good habits in 
*early childhood, They must in the strictest sense of 
the term be religiously educated from their most 
tender years. 

There is another view of the point before us, which 
immensely enhances the importance of a religious ed- 
ucation. If human existence was bounded by this 
'inch or two of time,' or if nothing which we can do 
for our children could have any influence upon their 
eternal destiny, the consequences of faithfulness, or 
unfaithfulness would be comparatively trifling. But 
when we think of their immortality — of what it is to 
rise and shine and sing — ^or to sink and wail in outer 
darkness forever, and then remember that we have 
the keeping of their precious souls, how can we help 
trembling under the weight of such a responsibility? 
Every system of education should have reference to 
^t^o worlds; but chiefly to the future, because the pre- 
sent is only the infancy of being, and the longest life 
bears no proportion to endless duration. Every in- 



30 

structor should keep distinctly in view, and remind his 
pupils daily of that long, long hereafter from which a 
thousand earthly ages will shrink into nothing. 

Viewed in the light of eternity, and as qualifications 
for the kingdom of God, what is health and what are 
talents of the highest order? What are the richest 
literary acquisitions? They may dazzle him, but noth- 
ing can shine without holiness beyond the grave. It 
is moral worth, it is piety of heart, or the want of it, 
which will fix the destiny of the undying soul. With- 
out the image of God, the stupendous intellect of 
Gabriel would be nought, but mighty rebellion and 
suffering to all eternity. Nor on the other hand, is 
there a human soul, bearing that image, though dwell- 
ing in the most humble clay, and merely looking 
through the grates of its prison, but that will ere 
long rise to glory and "walk in white" and sing witn 
angels. What prayers, what instructions, what un- 
wearied efforts then, should be employed in the relig- 
ious education of ^very child. It is true, indeed, that 
no human agency however long or faithfully exerted, 
can give a new heart: but it is equally true, that God 
employs instruments to accomplish all his gracious 
purposes. He works by means, no less in the moral 
than in the natural world. The means he has in this 
case prescribed. In numberless instances has he made 
them eflectual to the saving conversion of the soul. 
Let parents, teachers and ministers then, do their 
duty, in humble reliance on the divine promises, and 
wait in hope and prayer for the blessing. May a 
worm, then, like one of us, aspire to the honour and 
happiness of guiding immortals to heaven — of assist- 
ing to prepare them fo^ "an exceeding and eternal 
weight o?f glory?" Who Would exchange such a priv- 



31 

ilege for the diadems of all the Caesars? This is a de- 
lightful theme. It warms and expands and elevates 
and fills with holy exultation the heart of christian 
benevolence. But I have already detained you so 
much longer than I intended, that instead of leaving 
room for enlargement on this point, I shall be con- 
strained to pass over in silence most of the collateral 
topics, which I had reserved for the closing pages of 
the present address. 

I am aware, that the view which I have sketched 
of the three capital branches of education, has no 
claim to originality in the general outline. Nor is 
this concession made with any reluctance. On the 
contrary, I rejoice to know, that the system which I 
would recommend, has been in high favour with the 
wise and good, ever since the Plymouth Colony found 
"a lodge in the wilderness." Our forefathers were 
no less the friends of sound learning, than of civil and 
religious liberty. However scanty their means might 
be, it was their earnest desire to raise up men of 
stature, and not pigmies, to be their successors in 
bearing the sword of the magistrate, and the ark of 
the testimony. If they placed a high estimate upon 
natural genius and mental cultivation, it was with the 
hope that both would be made subservient to the in- 
terests of religion. Hence were the earliest and now 
most flourishing Colleges of NewEngland,dedicated"fo 
Christ and the Church,''^ by their pious founders. And 
in looking over their stellated triennial records, for 
the names of those who "were of old men of renown," 
it is peculiarly animating to find, how many of them 
were as much distinguished for their piety, as for their 
talents and erudition. We cenfidently believe, that 
those venerable seats of science, from which the "wor- 



6 



32 

thies" of so many generations have gone out, to bless 
and enlighten the churches, and to become the firm- 
est pillars in the state, will be more and more distin- 
guished in the annals of future times. The dedica- 
tion of which I have just spoken, was not a vain and 
empty ceremony. There was meaning in every 
word. It was the love of Christ constraining the 
heart, which prompted to extraordinary efforts and 
sacrifices, in laying the foundations of Harvard, of 
Yale, of Nassau Hall, and of Dartmouth. The same 
spirit we trust, has predominated among the founders 
of those kindred seminaries, which have more recently 
sprung up in various parts of our land. In reference 
to the Institution, which is now just rising into being 
before our eye, we heed not the reproach of weakness 
and presumption when we say, that our confident ex- 
pectations of its future growth and prosperity, rest 
chiefly upon its being consecrated to Christ and the 
Church, and being daily commended to God in so many 
closets and families. May Christ and the church be 
inseparable from all the prayers and hopes and wishes 
and gifts of its benefactors; and may 'Christ be form- 
ed in the heart of every student, the hope of glory.' 
Then, not only will it live; but be worthy to live. 
Then will the blessing of many ready to perish 
come upon its sons. 

The observations which I have made in this ad- 
dress, upon the three great branches of education, 
have so direct a bearing upon the question of age, in 
reference to entering College, that I hope I shall be 
indulged in a few additional remarks. On this subject, 
no general rule can be laid down which will apply to 
every case. Some lads have more maturity, both of 
body and' mind, at twelve, than others have at fifteen. 



33 

or sixteen. Still, there is a general order of nature, 
which should be carefully studied and observed. By 
strictly attending to this, we shall be able to fix, with 
a good degree of precision, upon the age when the 
generality of youth, are physically and mentally pre- 
pared for admission into a public seminary. This, I 
am fully convinced, is not so early as parental partial- 
ity and young ambition are apt to suppose. Neither 
the physical constitution and health, nor the intellect- 
ual powers, nor the moral habits of a mere child, 
are sufficiently established and consolidated, to render 
it either profitable, or safe for him, to encounter the 
many difficulties and temptations of a thorough classical 
course. All experience proves, that not one lad in a 
hundred, at the age of thirteen, or fourteen, can 
grapple with natural and mental philosophy, or with 
the higher branches of mathematics. In order to do 
this, the mind must have attained to something like 
maturity, and this it does not ordinarily do, till near 
the close of minority. If a student can graduate at 
twenty, or even a year or two later, he ought, in 
almost every case to be satisfied. His education is 
much more likely to be thorough, than if he had en- 
tered very young. It cannot be doubted that many 
have lost the greater part of their junior year, as well 
as much of the sophomore and senior, merely by en- 
tering college too early, and being driven on through 
studies to which their minds were not yet equal. 
Many, also, by too much confinement, and by intense 
application in the greenness of their growth, have 
early closed both their studies and their lives together. 
Nor are these the only objections to premature ma- 
triculation. A child can rarely form a correct esti- 
mate of the value of a good education — so that if he 
5 



34 

was able to press on, with the older competitors, he 
is not so likely to feel the importance of diligence in 
study. And what maybe more than all, is the ex- 
posure of his morals, at the critical age, when he is 
most likely to be led into temptation. 

To the question, 'what then shall we do with our 
sons, when they are fitted for College at an early age?' 
I answer, put them upon a preparatory course, which 
will require more time, by embracing a wider range 
than is commonly taken. In some respects, I know, 
a student may be too well fitted, but there are stud- 
ies, particularly those which require thought and inven- 
tion, on which I should think he might bestow a year 
or two, without much danger. Perhaps the better 
way, however, in most cases would be, to reserve a 
considerable portion of time between the ages of 
twelve and sixteen, for manual labour. Nothing is so 
likely to give the lad a good constitution, and make 
him willing to study, as being obliged to wipe the sweat 
from his own brow through the long summer months, 
and to learn a little from his own experience, how much 
toil it costs to carry him through college. 

Another topic on which I had intended to enlarge, 
is the education of indigent pious youth for the Gospel 
ministry. And I was the more desirous of stating my 
views somewhat at length, on account of the benevo- 
lent origin and leading design of this Institution. But 
I must not trespass longer on your patience, than just 
to glance at the subject. A new era in the history of 
the American church is begun, by means of those 
efforts which are now in successful operation, to ed- 
ucate the pious poor, and prepare them for the holy 
ministry. Hundreds of young men of promising tal- 
ents, are at this moment members of our academies 



35 

and Colleges, who but for the hand of christian char- 
ity would have remained in their native obscurity; and 
thousands more will assuredly be assisted by the same 
bounty to acquire a competent education for the sacred 
office. This, certainly, is one of the animating signs 
of the times in which it is our privilege to live. Why 
were not education societies thought of fifty or a 
hundred years ago.'* They might be reckoned among 
the glories of any age. But experience has already 
proved, that no ordinary judgment and discretion are 
necessary, in selecting talents and piety from the shop 
and the field — in the distribution of hard earned char- 
ity and in the general superintendance of a long list of 
beneficiaries. It is not every pious youth, who has 
talents for the pastoral office, or the missionary service. 
Some, no doubt, are very devoted christians and very 
desirous of becoming preachers too, whom no pains or 
expense could ever qualify for the desk. Such may 
think it hard to be rejected, especially if some of their 
indigent companions are taken; but there ought to be 
firmness and independence enough, to follow the dic- 
tates of 9,n enlightened judgment in an affair of so 
much importance. It can be no advantage to any 
young man, to be taken from the sphere in which God 
designed he should act, and placed in one which he 
can never fill: and most certainly, we have no right to 
waste the sacred deposits of charity, upon well ascer- 
tained imbecility, or dullness, though allied to the 
purest motives in the applicant. Nor, in my opinion 
would it be wise, even if funds were ever so ample, to 
recal our industrious, indigent young men from the 
plow, or to bid them lay down their tools, and then 
carry them through all the stages of education, with- 
out requiring any thing more of them, than a diligent 



36 

attention to their studies. The change would, in the 
first place, greatly endanger their health. Active and 
laborious habits cannot be exchanged at once, for the 
sedentariness of the school-room, with either comfort 
or safety: and why should not the beneficiary make 
his needful exercise, contribute if he can, towards his 
own support? 

Besides; to excuse him for several years from all 
labour and hardship, would, in a great measure, dis- 
qualify him for the very service in which it must be 
the duty of many to engage. We want young men 
for the ministry, who are inured to self denial and who 
will be ready to "endure hardness as good soldiers of 
Jesus Christ," wherever he may send them. We 
want soldiers for this holy war, who will cheerfully 
march to the frontiers, and pitch their tents in the 
dark interminable forests of the west and south. We 
want missionaries to go forth and gather congregations 
from the cabins of the wilderness, and to carry the 
Gospel to far distant pagan millions. Now what is 
the best way, to prepare indigent piety for these ar- 
duous and self-denying labours? Certainly not to re- 
move it from the straw cot, and pillow it upon the 
softest down. — Certainly not to excuse the young man 
from all concern about his own support. On the con- 
trary, he ought to be distinctly informed, when he 
lays down the hoe and the broad axe, that he is to 
help himself as far as he can, and to expect no more 
charitable aid, than his necessities may absolutely re- 
quire. That youth is not worthy of being assisted by 
the late and early earnings of pious indigence, nor 
even by the bounty of christian affluence, who is not 
willing to endure privations, and to make every rea- 
sonable exertion in his own behalf. 



Moreover, entire reliance upon charity, during sev- 
eral years of the forming age, can hardly fail of im- 
pairing, if it does not destroy that independence of 
mind, which is essential in every high and difficult en- 
terprize. If such a state of dependence is not quite 
synonymous with anxious servility, it is too much to 
expect from it, that free and independent develope- 
ment of talents and designs, which gives the brightest 
promise of future usefulness. The best intentioned 
patrojis of indigent merit, are sometimes capricious; 
and who in the midst of conflicting caprices, and earn- 
estly desirous of pleasing all, can act like himself? 
Better, therefore, to struggle and fare hard through 
every stage of education, than for the sake of being 
wholly supported, to run the hazard of acquiring a 
kind of tame neutrality of character in such a school. 

I hope that in speaking thus freely, I shall not be 
thought indilFerent to the comfort of those pious de- 
pendent youth, on whom the hopes of the church aife 
now fixed. Let them receive all needed assistance- 
Few, probably, are in danger of being injured by receiv- 
ing too much, while owing to the scantiness of our char- 
ities, many are subjected to very great embarrassments. 
In the struggles and discouragements of this latter 
class, I feel, and trust I always shall feel a lively inter- 
est. Hand ignarus mali miseris succurrere disco. 

But if I am not mistaken, the views which I have 
ventured to express on this highly important and del- 
icate subject, accord with the sentiments which are 
now generally entertained, by the enlightened friends 
of charitable education; and they afford a sufficient 
answer to a popular objection against the system. 
We are charged with demanding the widow's mite, 
and the poor servant girl's wages, to support a host of 
healthy young men in ease and idleness. This is un- 



38 



true. Wc demand nothing. We are anxious, indeed, 
to increase the number of well educated ministers by 
bringing forward the pious poor, and are not ashamed 
to ask the christian public to assist us. But we require 
the beneficiaries to be saving, and to rely on their own 
earnings as far as their health and circumstances will 
allow. All we ask is, that when thej have done what 
they can, they may be helped forward by the hand 
of charity. 

These I take to have been the views of the benev- 
olent founders of this Institution. They intended to 
help those, who are willing to help themselves. 
While, therefore, the indolent and the extravagant 
will be scrupulously rejected, the deserving poor of 
every donomination, who have respectable talents and 
desire to consecrate them to God in the ministry, will 
be cheerfully patronized. The funds of the Institu- 
tion, indeed, will not enable the Trustees to do all 
they could wish; but they rely on the further aid of 
that christian benevolence which is enabling them to 
do so much; and the hope is indulged, that arrange- 
ments may ere long be made, in connexion with the 
seminary to furnish convenient, health giving and pro- 
ductive labour, for all the indigent students, whether 
they have the ministry in view or not. And here, let 
me just remark, that I think poor young men of good 
talents, who are not counted pious, have been too lit- 
tle regarded in the benevolent plans of this remarka- 
ble age. Why should they not be educated with the 
hope, that God will change their hearts and make 
them eminently useful? And why to this end, should 
not funds be raised to assist them."^ Who can tell 
how much they might do, to bless the state, the church 
and the world? 



39 

In looking roand, this day, from the spot where we 
now stand; in thinking of the past and then of the 
future, what emotions of gratitude and hope fill the be- 
nevolent mind! Whence these walls built in troublous 
times — these goodly edifices which greet the eye and 
gladden the heart from afar? Whence this youthful 
band of brethren, dwelling together in unity, improv- 
ing their minds by an elevated course of study, and so 
many of them walking, as we trust, in the "ways of 
pleasantness, in the paths of peace?" Whence all that 
our eyes now see and our ears hear? Verily God 
hath heard the prayer of his servants and blessed the 
work of their hands. Hitherto, may they say, hath 
the Lord helped us! 

And will he frown all that is before us into ruins 
and forgetfulness? Will he forsake this comely daugh- 
ter of Zion in her tender years, and after giving her 
so many tokens of his favour? We cannot believe it. 
He may afflict her still more, but surely he will cher- 
ish her growth, he will comfort her heart, he will raise 
her up friends. Under his smiles and sustained by 
his arm, she will hold on her way, and as she advan- 
ces, will scatter blessings with both her hands upon 
many, who are famishing for the bread of life. She 
will not envy her elder sisters, who have riches, w^ard- 
robes and more attendants and are moving in higher 
spheres than her own: — but she will emulate their vir- 
tues, rejoice in their prosperity, strive to deserve their 
affection, and seek for herself that "adorning of a 
meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of 
great price." In this quiet, modest and beneficent 
course, who can wish her anv thinjn but success? Where 
is the hand, that would rudely thrust her back, or the 
heart that can triumph in her disappointments, that 



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can rejoice in her afflictions? But should she be 're- 
viled, let her not revile again.' Should one 'cheek be 
smitten let her turn the other also!' Let the same mind 
be in her which was in Christ Jesus and she can have 
nothing to fear. 

As we cast our ejes down the long track of time, 
from this consecrated eminence, how many bright and 
interesting visions croud upon our vievt'. fVe, indeed, 
shall soon be gone; but other generations will come, and 
what may they not enjoy and accomplish, canopied as 
they will be, by those Arcadian skies, invigorated by 
the pure breath of the mountains, and inspired to 
rapture and to song as they look abroad upon all the 
riches, life and beauty of this great amphitheatre? 
How many favoured sons of this institution, will hold 
sweet converse here, with the muse that loves the 
hill of Zion! How many statesmen, historians and 
orators will be trained on this ground, to shine in sen- 
ates, to grace the bar, to adorn the bench of justice, 
and to record the doings of the wise, the brave and 
the good. But more than all that has been mention- 
ed, what may not this seminary do for the churches 
at home — what victories may she not gain in distant 
lands, by sending forth her sons under the banner of 
the cross, and clad in armour of heavenly temper to 
tight the battles of her King? 

Who is there in this assembly, that is not ready to 
answer, May these glowing anticipations be more than 
realized, in the future prosperity and usefulness of this 
Institution? May it live to gladden and bless the church 
through all future generations; and in that world, 
where holiness is perfect and knowledgie is transcend- 
ant, may all its founders, patrons and friends meet and 
dwell together forever in the presence of God and 
the Lamb. 



